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U.S. stocks rose on Monday, May 11, led by heavyweight technology shares, even as oil prices climbed after President Donald Trump rejected a proposal to end the war. At the close, the S&P 500 rose 0.19% to 7,412.84, the Nasdaq gained 0.1% to 26,274.13. Both indices posted intraday and closing records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.19% to 49,704.47.
Over the weekend, Iran responded to a proposal the U.S. had previously put forward to end the war that has lasted more than two months. Tehran stressed the need to end the war on all fronts and for the U.S. to lift sanctions on Iran, according to Tasnim, citing sources.
Later, in a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said he did not like Iran's response and called the proposal “completely unacceptable.”
On Monday, speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said the ceasefire accord between the U.S. and Iran has “been on life support for a month” and is “so weak it’s unbelievable.” He added that the agreement was at its weakest point after Iran sent the proposal, saying he “didn’t even bother to read it all.”
Oil rose on the developments. WTI futures in New York rose 2.78% to finish Monday at $98.07 per barrel. Brent crude futures in London gained 2.88% to close at $104.20 per barrel.
Jay Hatfield, CEO of Infrastructure Capital Advisors, said the wave of investment into artificial intelligence (AI) is so strong that higher energy prices appear unable to curb the rally in U.S. stocks. “Investors are overlooking concerns about the Middle East,” Hatfield told CNBC.
Hatfield said he expects the market to rise further over the next two months if the deadlock between the U.S. and Iran persists, arguing that the unprecedented AI boom counters energy-price pressures. “With the AI boom, the market doesn’t want to fall,” he added.
Technology stocks led the rally, with Micron up 6.5% and Nvidia up almost 2%.
Last week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose more than 2% and 4%, respectively, marking the sixth straight weekly gain for both indices. The Dow finished up about 0.2% for the week, its fifth weekly gain in six weeks.
Despite the gains, some observers cautioned that the rally may not last indefinitely. In a Substack post on Monday, investor Michael Burry warned that the tech stock rally in 2026 may end in a crash, writing that “the market has run beyond its limits.”
This week, gold investors will focus on U.S. inflation data. The Labor Department is expected to release the CPI on May 12 and the Producer Price Index (PPI) on May 13.
Other major events include President Donald Trump’s visit to China on May 14-15 and the chance the U.S. Senate will vote to confirm Kevin Warsh as Fed chair.
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